Tampon with continuous groove forms

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an intravaginal tampon for feminine hygiene includes a generally cylindrical absorbent pledget and a withdrawal element operatively connected to the generally cylindrical pledget proximate to the withdrawal end thereof. The absorbent pledget includes a mass of fibers compressed into a self sustaining shape and a sheet-like fluid-permeable cover substantially enclosing the mass of fibers. The absorbent pledget has formed thereon or therein at least one continuous groove form comprising a plurality of substantially longitudinal groove segments linked only to form a turn located alternatively proximate the insertion end and withdrawal end and wherein the continuous groove form extends around at least 180° about the circumference of the generally cylindrical absorbent pledget.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application61/706,359 filed on Sep. 27, 2012, the complete disclosure of which ishereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an intravaginal tampon for femininehygiene. In particular, it relates to a tampon having a continuousgroove form providing visually distinct zones and different bodily fluidhandling characteristics.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Devices for intravaginally capturing and storing bodily fluid arecommercially available and known in the literature. Intravaginal tamponsfor feminine hygiene are the most common example of such devices.Commercially available tampons are generally compressed cylindricalmasses of absorbent fibers that may be contained by an absorbent ornonabsorbent cover layer.

The tampon is inserted into the human vagina and retained there for atime for the purpose of capturing and storing intravaginal bodilyfluids, most commonly menstrual fluid. As intravaginal bodily fluidcontacts the tampon, it should be absorbed and retained by the absorbentmaterial of the tampon. After a time, the tampon and its retained fluidis removed and disposed, and if necessary, another tampon is inserted.

A drawback often encountered with commercially available tampons is thetendency toward premature failure, which may be defined as bodily fluidleakage from the vagina while the tampon is in place and before thetampon is completely saturated with the bodily fluid. The patent arttypically describes a problem believed to occur that an unexpanded,compressed tampon is unable to immediately absorb fluid. Therefore, itpresumes that premature leakage may occur when bodily fluid contacts aportion of the compressed tampon, and the fluid is not readily absorbed.

One way to prevent premature leakage from occurring is to providedesigned pathways for fluid moving along the outer tampon surface. Whilethis increase to the pathways may improve the fluid absorption, addinggrooves during the manufacturing process can raise process issues. Theprior art is replete with examples of attempts to incorporate groovesinto tampons. Often new steps are added to an already complicatedmanufacturing process or the process is not fully described.

Friese et al., EP 0422660 B2, discloses an apparatus for producing atampon with longitudinal grooves. The apparatus for making the tamponincludes two groups of dies arranged in a plane perpendicular to thepress axis. The first group of dies form press segments and the secondgroup of dies form sliding plates. Each of the dies has press cuttersprojecting from the faces. The blank is pressed into a preform having acore with high compression and longitudinal ribs separated by grooves.The dies do not include a surface for forming shoulders.

Schoelling, US 2002-0151859 A1, discloses an apparatus for producingtampons having spirally shaped, pressed longitudinal grooves. Theapparatus has press jaws of substantially equal dimensions which arearranged in a star formation with respect to the press axis. The jawscan be moved synchronously between open and closed positions. Each pressjaw has a stepped pressing surface including a pressing blade and apressing shoulder. The area of the pressing shoulder is great than thearea of the pressing blade. The pressing blade and pressing shoulder canextend over a circumferential angle α of between 80 to 150° in theclosed or pressing position. The press jaws are slightly retracted togive clearance when the preform is ejected from the press.

Van Ingelgem et al., EP 1547555 B1 purports to disclose an apparatus formanufacturing tampons with at least three press jaws, each press jawhaving a penetrating segment for penetrating the absorbent material andpressing shoulder. The median of the penetrating segment diverges fromthe radius of that penetrating segment when in the press. The median ofthe penetrating segment is the straight line drawn in a cross section ofthe penetrating segment, through its tip and the midpoint of its base.One press jaw may comprise either a penetrating segment or a pressingshoulder, or a combination of one penetrating segment and pressingshoulders arranged at either or both sides of the penetrating segment.If the penetrating segment and pressing shoulders are fixed to separatepress jaws, it is preferably that they press simultaneously. The pressjaws, in particular, the penetrating segments can have a straight,sinusoidal, spiral or helical shape in the longitudinal direction toform essentially straight, sinusoidal, spiral, or helical grooves in theaxial direction of the tampon. The resultant tampon has at least threeribs, in transverse cross-section, has a median at least partiallydiverging from the radius where the median of the rib is the line drawnthrough the midpoint of a series of arc lines, bound by the edges of therib, wherein the arcs have a common center which is the midpoint of theX-X cross-section of the tampon.

Schmidt, EP 1459720 B1, purports to disclose increasing the surface areaof a tampon by utilizing grooves that are formed in a wave shape. Whilemultiple examples are shown, including wavy grooves with angled points,this publication does not disclose specifics on how to manufacture thetampons. In particular, the publication does not include specifics aboutcompression, the press jaws or how the preform or tampon is ejected fromthe press.

Ruhlmann, WO 2009/129910 A1, purports to disclose a tampon having atleast one first surface groove and at least one second surface groovethat crosses the first surface groove along their path between aproximal end and a distal end of the tampon. However, the disclosurefails to teach how the crossing grooves are formed, especially in acommercially-feasible manufacturing process and/or with a cover.

Fung, US 2011-0092940 A1, discloses an intravaginal tampon formed ofcompressed material and has an outer surface with at least two segmentedgrooves are formed therein, and each segmented groove is separated fromand spaced at a distance from an adjacent segmented groove. Eachsegmented groove has at least one substantially longitudinal segment andat least one accumulator segment. The arrangement of the segmentsprovides a pooling region to impede bodily fluid flow along the outersurface of the tampon.

While the above examples describe tampons with grooves or the processfor making such tampon, these tampons do not have visually distinctzones with different bodily fluid handling characteristics. In addition,the processes do not show how to make such a unique intravaginal tampon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has been discovered that a continuous groove forms having visuallydistinct zones with different bodily fluid handling characteristics canbe formed.

In one aspect of the invention, an intravaginal tampon for femininehygiene includes a generally cylindrical absorbent pledget and awithdrawal element operatively connected to the generally cylindricalpledget proximate to the withdrawal end thereof. The absorbent pledgetincludes a mass of fibers compressed into a self sustaining shape and asheet-like fluid-permeable cover substantially enclosing the mass offibers. The absorbent pledget has formed thereon or therein at least onecontinuous groove form comprising a plurality of substantiallylongitudinal groove segments linked only to form a turn locatedalternatively proximate the insertion end and withdrawal end and whereinthe continuous groove form extends around at least 180° about thecircumference of the generally cylindrical absorbent pledget.

Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparentin those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the followingdescription of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of a tampon according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a press having a single cam useful informing tampons of the present invention; the cam is partially brokenaway, and some of the press elements have been removed for increasedclarity the illustrated press elements.

FIG. 2A is a side view of the central portion of the press of FIG. 2including the press dies and central cavity; outer portions of the camand other press elements are broken away for increased clarity of thecentral press portion.

FIG. 3 is perspective view of four of the press dies of the press ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a line view of the pressing faces of the four press dies ofFIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is cross-section of the central portion of the press of FIG. 2Aalong line (D-D) in an open position; outer portions of the presselements are broken away for increased clarity of the central pressportion.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section of the central portion of the press of FIG. 2proximate the notch during an initial compression step; outer portionsof the press elements are broken away for increased clarity of thecentral press portion.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-section view of the press of FIG. 6 clearlyshowing the penetrating die tips crossing during an initial compressionstep; the remaining press elements are broken away.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the press of FIG. 7; theremaining press elements are broken away.

FIG. 9 is cross-section view of the central portion of the press of FIG.2A along line (D-D) during an ejection step; outer portions of the presselements are broken away for increased clarity of the central pressportion.

FIG. 10 is an end view of the press of FIG. 9 in the ejection position.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal cross-section of the press of FIG. 9, duringan ejection step.

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of a compressed tampon pledget prior tofinishing the insertion end and packaging.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a tampon and a finishing mold for usein an alternative embodiment of forming shallow, detached groove formsaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a tampon and an embossed calender rollfor use in an alternative embodiment of forming shallow, detached grooveforms according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of a tamponaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a side view of a second alternative embodiment of a tamponaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As used herein the specification and the claims, the term “groove” andvariants thereof relate to an indention into the surface of the tampon.For clarification, grooves may be “penetrating grooves”, extending atleast 0.7 mm (or 10% of the radius, whichever is greater) into thetampon or they may be “shallow grooves”, primarily surface indentationswithout significant penetration (of not more than 0.7 mm, not more than10% of the radius) into the tampon body. Regions between grooves maytake the form of ribs.

As used herein the specification and the claims, the term “groove form”and variants thereof relates to a groove or combination of groovesegments that are connected in a visibly identifiable manner to providea unique feature at least on the surface of the tampon pledget.

As used herein the specification and the claims, the term “turn” andvariants thereof relates to a portion of the groove form in which thegroove and/or groove elements reverse(s) upon itself/themselves in asubstantially U-shaped or a substantially V-shaped configuration. A“turn” can also have a generally linear extension from the intersection,such as a substantially Y-shaped configuration, but it does not havemultiple extensions, such as an X-shaped or +-shaped configurationformed by crossing intersecting lines in which both lines continuebeyond the intersection in different paths (such as shown in Ruhlmann,WO 2009/129910 A1).

As used herein the specification and the claims, the term “major axis”and variants thereof relating to the groove form is defined by theshortest line connecting the most distant points of the groove form.Generally, this major axis will pass through at least one turn proximateto one end of the pledget.

As used herein the specification and the claims, the term “longitudinalaxis” and variants thereof relate to an axis that runs from theinsertion end to the withdrawal end substantially through the center ofthe tampon.

As used in the specification and the claims, the term “self sustainingshape” and variants thereof relate to a tampon pledget that iscompressed and/or shaped to assume a general shape and size that isdimensionally stable. For example, a digital tampon that has aself-sustaining shape will generally maintain its shape after a primarypackage or overwrap is removed and will generally maintain such shapefor vaginal insertion. It will be recognized that the tampon is intendedto absorb bodily fluids, and may substantially change shape during useas it absorbs such fluids.

As used in the specification and the claims, the term “pledget” andvariants thereof relate to a pad or a compress of absorbent materialsuch as fibers designed to absorb bodily fluids.

As used in the specification and the claims, the term “orientedsubstantially longitudinally” and variants thereof relate to a groove ora groove segment or a groove form that has a helix angle of greater than45°.

As used in the specification and the claims, the term “fiber density”and variants thereof relate to the relative proportion of fibers to voidspace in a given volume of the fibrous structure.

The present invention relates to a tampon with reduced opportunity forbodily fluid to flow along the surface without being absorbed into thetampon pledget. This is accomplished by providing a continuous grooveform including a plurality of substantially longitudinal groove segmentslinked only to form a turn located alternatively proximate the insertionend and the withdrawal end. The continuous groove form extends around atleast 180° about the circumference of the generally absorbent pledget.This provides visually distinct zones with different bodily fluidhandling characteristics. In addition, the turns provide at least twogroove paths for the fluid to follow to be distributed to differentportions of the tampon pledget. Thus, not only does the presentinvention provide tampons with a plurality of groove segments,recognized by the prior art as providing improved fluid handlingcharacteristics, but it also provides separated closed absorption zonesthat visually communicate functional benefits to the user, includingabsorbent reservoirs to better contain bodily fluids in the tampon.

Referring to FIG. 1, an intravaginal tampon 10 for feminine hygieneincludes a generally cylindrical absorbent pledget 20 and a withdrawalelement 30 extending therefrom. The pledget 20 has a longitudinal axis21, an insertion end 22 (which may terminate in a dome 23), and awithdrawal end 24. The pledget includes a mass of fibers compressed intoa self sustaining shape and a sheet-like fluid-permeable cover 25 (suchas an apertured film cover) substantially enclosing the mass of fibers.The withdrawal element 30, such as a string, is operatively connected toand extends from the pledget 20 proximate to the withdrawal end 24thereof.

The pledget 20 includes a continuous groove form 40 arranged about theouter surface of the pledget 20. In embodiment of FIG. 1, the continuousgroove form 40 comprising a plurality of substantially longitudinalgroove segments 41 linked only to form a turn 42 located alternativelyproximate the insertion end 22 and the withdrawal end 24. As indicatedabove, continuous groove form 40 extends around at least 180° about thecircumference of the generally absorbent pledget 20. Preferably, thecontinuous groove form 40 extends completely around the circumference ofthe generally absorbent pledget 20. For example, the continuous grooveform may extend in a zigzag or saw tooth pattern about thecircumference.

The groove segments may have a configuration that is a straight line, aplurality of linked angled segments (such as a saw tooth waveform or asquare waveform), a plurality of curved segments (such as a sinusoidalwaveform), and combinations thereof. The configuration of the groovesegments 41 may differ about the groove form 40, or they may be thesame.

The absorbent pledget includes a mass of fibers compressed into a selfsustaining shape. The pledget may also include additional absorbentmaterials such as foam, superabsorbent, hydrogels, and the like.Preferred absorbent material for the present invention includes foam andfiber. Absorbent foams may include hydrophilic foams, foams which arereadily wetted by aqueous fluids as well as foams in which the cellwalls that form the foam themselves absorb fluid.

Preferably, the fibers employed in the formation of the absorbent bodyinclude regenerated cellulosic fiber, natural fibers and syntheticfibers. Preferably, the materials employed in the formation of a tamponaccording to the present invention include fiber, foam, hydrogels, woodpulp, superabsorbents, and the like. A useful, non-limiting list ofuseful absorbent body fibers includes natural fibers such as cotton,wood pulp, jute, and the like; and processed fibers such as regeneratedcellulose, cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, rayon, polyester,polyvinyl alcohol, polyolefin, polyamine, polyamide, polyacrylonitrile,and the like. Other fibers in addition to the above fibers may beincluded to add desirable characteristics to the absorbent body.Preferably, tampon fibers are rayon, cotton, or blends thereof, and morepreferably, the fibers are rayon. The fibers may have any usefulcross-section.

Fiber cross-sections include multi-limbed and non-limbed. Multi-limbed,regenerated cellulosic fibers have been commercially available for anumber of years. These fibers are known to possess increased specificabsorbency over non-limbed fibers. A commercial example of these fibersis the Galaxy® multilimbed viscose rayon fibers available from KelheimFibres GmbH, Kelheim, Germany. These fibers are described in detail inWilkes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,835, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference. Preferably, the fibers includehydrophilic fibers, and more preferably, the fibers include absorbentfibers, i.e., the individual fibers, themselves, absorb fluid. A useful,non-limiting list of useful tampon fibers includes natural fibers suchas cotton, wood pulp, jute, hemp, and the like; and processed fiberssuch as regenerated cellulose, cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate,rayon, polyester, polyvinyl alcohol, polyolefin, polyamine, polyamide,polyacrylonitrile, and the like. Other fibers in addition to the abovefibers may be included to add desirable characteristics to the absorbentbody. For example, hydrophobic fibers may be used in outer surfaces ofthe tampon to reduce surface wetness and hydrophilic fibers may be usedto increase the rate of fluid transport into and throughout the body.Preferably, the tampon fibers are rayon or cotton, and more preferably,the fibers are rayon. The fibers may have any useful cross-section.

The pledget includes a mass of fibers substantially enclosed by asheet-like cover material fluid-permeable cover. Thus, the coverencloses a majority of the outer surface of the tampon. This may beachieved as disclosed in Friese, U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,100, the disclosureof which is herein incorporated by reference. In addition, either orboth ends of the tampon may be enclosed by the cover. Of course, forprocessing or other reasons, some portions of the surface of the tamponmay be free of the cover. For example, the insertion end of the tamponand a portion of the cylindrical surface adjacent this end may beexposed, without the cover to allow the tampon to more readily acceptfluids.

The cover can ease the insertion of the tampon into the body cavity andcan reduce the possibility of fibers being separated from the tampon.Useful covers are known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and theyare generally dimensionally stable with low elongation in both themachine and cross-direction. They may be selected from an outer layer offibers which are fused together (such as by thermobonding), a nonwovenfabric, an apertured film, or the like. Preferably, the cover has ahydrophobic finish.

A process useful in the formation of an intravaginal tampon for femininehygiene of the present invention with grooved zones begins with an openfibrous structure. The open structure may be a nonwoven fibrous web, amass of randomly or substantially uniformly oriented fibers and optionalmaterials, such as foams, or particles, and the like. This mass is thenmanipulated to form a tampon blank.

A nonwoven web useful in the present invention can be formed in anymanner desired by the person of ordinary skill in the art. For example,fibers can be opened and/or blended by continuously metering them into asaw-tooth opener. The blended fibers can be transported, e.g., by airthrough a conduit to a carding station to form a fibrous web.Alternatively, a mass of substantially randomly oriented fibers can beformed by opening and/or blending them, transporting them, as above, toa station to form, e.g., a teabag-type tampon blank. Further processesmay employ oriented fibers in a fibrous tow.

The tampon blank can be further processed to form a tampon. In a tamponforming process, a web can be formed into a narrow, fibrous sliver andspirally wound to form a tampon blank. In addition, a liquid-permeablecover material can be wrapped around the tampon blank to substantiallycontain the fibrous absorbent portion of the tampon. It may be desiredto process the fibrous sliver with selective needle-punching of thesliver as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,845,055 to Kimball et al., thedisclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

As shown in FIGS. 2-12, the intravaginal tampon for feminine hygiene ofFIG. 1 having a predetermined finished diameter can be formed in a press100 having (1) a generally cylindrical press cavity 102 having a centralpress axis 104 and a substantially cylindrical circumference and (2) aplurality of elongate press dies. A partially broken-away perspectiveview of the press 100 is shown in FIG. 2. This figure includes onlyseven of sixteen press dies and a portion of the press cam removed forclarity. The press dies may include penetrating dies 106 having pressingfaces for defining a set of penetrating grooves that extend into thefinished tampon pledget and shaping dies 108 for forming surfacefeatures, including shallow grooves on the outer surface of a resultingcompressed tampon pledget, or smoothing the outer surface of a resultingcompressed tampon pledget, or forming a continuous diameter for guidingresulting compressed tampon pledget out of the press during the ejectionstep. The penetrating dies 106 and shaping dies 108 alternate about thecircumference of the cylindrical press cavity.

More detail of the press dies can be seen in FIG. 3, an enlarged view ofthe bottom right four press dies of FIG. 2. In this view, a firstpenetrating die 106 a has a pressing face 107 and shape corresponding toa first groove segment 41 a and a second penetrating die 106 b has ashape corresponding to a second groove segment 41 b (of FIG. 1). As canbe seen in FIG. 3, one end 150 a of the first penetrating die 106 aextends beyond the corresponding end 150 b of the second penetrating die106 b. Indeed, the end 150 b of the second penetrating die 106 b iscurved toward the first penetrating die 106 a in order to form the turn42 in the surface of the tampon pledget 20 (as shown in FIG. 1)proximate to the insertion end 22. In this embodiment, the end 150 a ofthe first penetrating die 106 a corresponds to the insertion end 22 ofthe tampon pledget 20 of FIG. 1. In addition, the end 151 a of the firstpenetrating die 106 a corresponding to the withdrawal end 24 of thetampon pledget also extends beyond the corresponding end 151 b of thesecond penetrating die 106 b. Again, the end 151 b of the secondpenetrating die 106 b is curved toward a first penetrating die 106 a onits opposite side to permit forming the continuous groove form.

Turn 42 of the detached groove form 40 is formed by the link betweengroove segments 41 a and 41 b (see FIG. 1). To form continuous grooveform 40, the penetrating dies 106 a,106 b travel on a path that crossesduring the compression of the tampon blank 200 (see FIG. 4) to form thepledget 20. Therefore, the longer penetrating die 106 a has a notch 152formed (see FIG. 3) proximate to, although spaced from, the end 150 a topermit the end 150 b of penetrating die 106 b to pass across the path oftravel of penetrating die 106 a. In addition, the longer penetrating die106 a has a second notch 152 proximate to, although spaced from end 151a to permit the end 151 b of a second penetrating die 106 b on itsopposite side.

The shaping dies 108 are shaped to accommodate the shape of thepenetrating dies 106 disposed therebetween. Thus, shaping die 108 acorresponds to the surface of the pledget 20 contained by the groovesegments 41 a and 41 b and the turn 42. This shaping die 108 a isshorter than shaping die 108 b.

In the foregoing description, the grouping of the four press pieces maybe repeated as often as necessary to provide a continuous groove formextends around at least 180° about the circumference of the generallyabsorbent pledget. Alternatively, there could be three sets of the fourpress dies.

In this process, a substantially cylindrical tampon blank 200 isinserted into the press cavity 102 in an open position shown in FIG. 4(a cross-section of the press of FIG. 2B and tampon proximate to thenotch 152 in the first penetrating die 106 a, looking from the interiorof the press toward the end of the press corresponding to the insertionend of the tampon in FIG. 1), after which an initial compression step isperformed. In this initial compression step, at least the penetratingdies 106 are moved into the press cavity 102 to a penetrating die closedposition having a clear distance “r” (see FIG. 7) from the press axis104 that is less than the predetermined finished diameter as shown inFIG. 6 and in detail in FIGS. 7 and 8. In this position (FIG. 8), it canbe seen that the second penetrating dies 106 b cross through the notch152 in the first penetrating dies 106 a in the penetrating die closedposition. This initial compression step forms the compressed fibrouscore of the tampon and provides column strength for easy insertionwithout need for a tampon applicator, known in the art as digitalinsertion.

In one embodiment, a second compression step that applies to thesubstantially longitudinal ribs of the preform a radial pressuredirected toward the central press axis to provide a compressed tamponpledget of reduced diameter relative to the preform is represented inFIGS. 9 (a cross-section of the press, proximate to the center of thepress cavity) and 10 (an end view of the press). In this step, thepenetrating dies 106 are retracted to assume a clear distance from thepress axis that is sufficient to permit the shaping dies 108 to advancetoward the press axis beyond the penetrating dies. Then the set ofshaping dies is moved to a shaping die closed position. The compressedtampon pledget may be ejected from the press cavity 102 using theshaping dies 108 to provide a substantially smooth guide for thecompressed tampon pledget to permit removal of the compressed tamponpledget from the press and pushing on one end of the compressed tamponpledget with a push rod 110 (shown in FIG. 11).

The tampon can be further shaped and packaged. For example, theinsertion end can be formed into a hemispherical or elliptical domeshape, and the tampon can be enclosed in a primary packaging materialthat can also support the final shape of the tampon.

In somewhat greater detail, the tampon press 100 of FIGS. 2 and 3includes a cam 120, penetrating die assemblies 130, and shaping dieassemblies 140. The cam 120 is generally circular and includes slots 122to urge the die assemblies 130, 140 into and out of the press cavity 102as the cam is pivoted about the press axis 104. Each penetrating dieassembly 130 includes a pair of slides (an exemplary slide 132 is shownon one side of the cam 120; another, not shown, would be on the oppositeside of the cam 120) and the penetrating die 106. Each shaping dieassembly 140 includes a pair of slides (an exemplary slide 142 is shownon one side of the cam 120; another, not shown, would be on the oppositeside of the cam 120) and the shaping die 108. Alternatively, multiplecams 120 a, 120 b may be used to permit more variability to the controlof the movement of the dies, e.g., one cam could operate penetratingdies 106 and another could operate shaping dies.

Upon ejection from the press 100, compressed pledget 20 is generallycylindrical as shown in FIG. 12. The pressed groove segments generallyextend from the insertion end 22 to the withdrawal end 24. Those pressedgroove segments 50 that extend from the turn 43 to the insertion end 22of the pledget will essentially be restructured in the doming processmentioned above to substantially eliminate them, both aesthetically andfunctionally. This is enhanced by the absence of the cover 25 in theregion of the dome 23.

In an alternative embodiment, especially enabled by a multiple camcontrolled process, the penetrating jaws 106 a, 106 b may be controlledto advance them separately. For example, penetrating jaw 106 b may beadvanced to the closed position, withdrawn sufficiently to permitpenetrating jaw 106 a to fully advance toward the press axis 104 in theclosed position. This eliminates the need for notches 152 in penetratingjaw 106 a, as the two penetrating jaws do not need to occupy the samespace. In addition, as described in the embodiment, below, this couldpermit penetrating jaws 106 a to remain in contact with the compressedtampon pledget 20 during ejection from the press.

While the foregoing detailed embodiments describe tampons having eightlinked groove segments, it will be recognized that the number of groovesegments can be varied, as desired. There may be an even or odd numberof groove segments.

In yet another alternative process, the tampon blank may be compressedas described in Friese et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,100; Leutwyler etal., U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,102; Schwankhardt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,884;and/or Schoelling, US 2002-0151859 A1 (the disclosures of which areherein incorporated by reference) with additional post-processing inwhich longitudinal grooves substantially smoothed to reduce theirappearance, and shallow, detached groove forms are pressed. For example,as shown in FIG. 13 a tampon 320 produced according to the teaching ofLeutwyler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,102 is inserted into a finishing330 mold having a diameter less than the diameter of the tampon 320. Inthe embodiment of FIG. 13, three mold elements are used, and only one ofthe three mold elements 330 is shown for clarity. The other moldelements would extend evenly spaced about the tampon 320. The innersurface 332 of the finishing mold 330 has a pattern of raised elements334 capable of forming the shallow detached groove forms (similar todetached groove forms in FIG. 1). Alternatively as shown in FIG. 14, thetampon 320 could be inserted and maintained in the nip between acalendering roller 340 having an embossed pattern 342 corresponding tothe desired detached groove forms and an anvil roller 350 for at leastone revolution of the tampon. This can result in the desired the shallowdetached groove forms pressed into the surface of the tampon as shown inFIG. 1.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 15, the tampon 10 may include detachedgroove forms 60 in addition to the at least one continuous groove form40. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 16, the tampon 10 may include atleast two continuous groove forms 40.

The specification and embodiments above are presented to aid in thecomplete and non-limiting understanding of the invention disclosedherein. Since many variations and embodiments of the invention can bemade without departing from its spirit and scope, the invention residesin the claims hereinafter appended.

What is claimed is:
 1. An intravaginal tampon for feminine hygienecomprising: a) a generally cylindrical absorbent pledget having acircumference, a length, a longitudinal axis, an insertion end, and awithdrawal end and comprising i) a mass of fibers compressed into a selfsustaining shape and ii) a sheet-like fluid-permeable coversubstantially enclosing the mass of fibers; b) a withdrawal elementoperatively connected to the generally cylindrical pledget proximate tothe withdrawal end thereof; wherein the absorbent pledget comprises atleast one continuous groove form comprising a plurality of substantiallylongitudinal groove segments linked only to form a turn locatedalternatively proximate the insertion end and withdrawal end and whereinthe continuous groove form extends around at least 180° about thecircumference of the generally cylindrical absorbent pledget.
 2. Thetampon of claim 1, wherein the at least one continuous groove formextends about the whole circumference of the generally cylindricalabsorbent pledget.
 3. The tampon of claim 1, wherein the pledgetcomprises at least two continuous forms.
 4. The tampon of claim 1,further comprising at least one additional groove or groove formcontinuous and anything else.
 5. The tampon of claim 1, wherein the atleast one continuous groove form extends at least 10% of the radius intothe pledget.
 6. The tampon of claim 1 contained in an applicator.
 7. Thetampon of claim 1 formed by molding a compressed tampon in a mold havingan inner surface patterned with raised elements capable of forming theat least one continuous groove form.
 8. The tampon of claim 1 formed bycalendering a compressed tampon in the nip between one or more anvilrolls and a calendering roll having an embossed pattern corresponding tothe at least one continuous groove form.